Nicole Holofcener’s latest film is less of a story than it is a look into the lives and motivations of enriching, multi-faceted characters.  We see the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful in everyone she introduces us to, and this gives us glimpses into their thoughts and feelings which ring true.  Between that, and the on-target dialogue, Please Give is a generally enjoyable and interesting movie, even if it doesn’t provide anything majestic or inspiring.

More than any other topic, Please Give looks at various aspects of greed and charity, and how ill-defined the lines defining them can be from one moment to the next.  Oliver Platt and Catherine Keener play Alex and Kate, a married couple with one 15-year-old daughter, Abby (Sarah Steele).   They run a boutique in New York City, where they resell vintage furniture almost exclusively purchased from the relatives of dead people, who don’t know enough or don’t care enough to assign the items any real value.  Alex has no real issue with this way of making a living, but it seems to dig at Kate.  In makes her feel, in some ways, like a greedy vulture, and in response she finds herself offering cash to any homeless person she sees on the street.  Their daughter finds this both embarrassing and a but hurtful, because these needy unknowns are inevitably called up as a reason for why her mother won’t buy her something she wants.

If she didn’t feel enough like a vulture, Alex and Kate have purchased the apartment next door to theirs, so that they can knock down walls and expand their living space once the occupant, grouchy Andra (Ann Guilbert) passes away.  Andra lives alone, but is cared for daily by her grown granddaughters Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) – the “sweet” one, and occasionally by Mary (Amanda Peet) – the “selfish” one.  While the neighbors and families try to stay friendly, the encounters are always awkward, trying to avoid the topic everyone assumes is on everyone else’s mind: how is Andra doing, and how much longer is she going to live.

Through it all, each character deals with their own specific private angst: Alex worries over aging and being less attractive; Kate tries to find a way to fill her emptiness and guilt; Abby is tormented by awful acne, and frets over what she feels is the lack of affection from her mother; Rebecca cares for her grandmother out of a sense of responsibility, but is trying to break free and enjoy some kind of social life; Mary is hung up on why her last boyfriend dumped her, and for all her vainness and bluntness is terribly insecure.  We even see a bit into Andra, set in her ways but lonely, trying to convince herself that her various medical problems will get better someday, and brooding silently over years of baggage (including the suicide of her daughter and how few friends she has ever had).

Please Give is the sort of film you enjoy but don’t fall in love with…but then, days later, you find yourself thinking about the characters, and realizing things you didn’t think of at first glance.  It stays with you the way a well-written stage play does.  If you find it near you, it’s worth your time.